Trimmings & Fashion Accessories Retailer

SituationA co-operatively owned trimmings and fashion accessories retailer had appointed a retail design agency for the redevelopment of their stores but wanted to make sure that the new designs also “made commercial sense”.

ChallengeBridge the gap between the design agency's aesthetic ideas, and the commercial realities of the retailer

ResponseAfter a store and stock-check, the design agency proposals got extensively modified to cater for operational and commercial realities. In this specific attention went to making sure that the proposed fixtures and fittings:

supported the stock-holding requirements

were easy to maintain by staff (low labour costs)

were part of the targeted customer experience

In addition to creating a network of higher performing store, our associate's recommendation also allowed the retailer to substantially reduce the amount of merchandise that was held “in the stores”. This improved the way the stores looked but most of off freed up several months of working capital.